A randomised controlled trial of outpatientversusinpatient integrated treatment of dual diagnosis patients: a failed but informative study

Abstract

The co-occurrence of severe mental illness (SMI) and substance use disorder (SUD) in dual diagnosis patients is common and associated with negative treatment outcomes. Therefore, integrated treatments, combining proven effective mental health and substance abuse interventions, have emerged. However, evidence about the effectiveness of integrated outpatient versus inpatient treatment for dual diagnosis patients from randomised controlled trials is lacking. The aim of the paper is to determine whether integrated outpatient treatment for patients with SMI and SUD is more effective than integrated inpatient treatment. Three months of post-treatment hospitalisation, problem drug use and psychiatric status were assessed in 82 patients with SMI and SUD in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing five months of integrated inpatient treatment (n = 40) with five-months integrated outpatient treatment (n = 42) following a shared one-month inpatient stabilisation phase. No significant differences in outcomes wer...